Falkovnia
Landscape Falkovnia is filled with lush forests and fertile fields, all nourished by the rich black soil created by the flood plains of the Vuchar River. The wall of the sleeping beast shelters Falkovnia from most of Lamordia's bitter chill. Because of them Falkovnia enjoys clement and long spring seasons, summers are long and painfully humid, punctuated by plentiful rain. Harvest season is long and clement like the spring. These unusually long and warm seasons helped Falkovnia earn its reputation as 'The Breadbasket of the Core'. Winter however is beset by frigid winds and thick snow, though not as wretched as Lamordia. Roads here are Corduroy roads, paved with timber and continuously maintained. The west Timori road links Lekar to Morfenzi, the Scythe Highway runs south from Lekar eventually turning east to connect Silbervas and Aerie. The poorly maintained Seelewald road runs through the backwater region between Morfenzi and Aerie. The Lecher's road splits off from Seelewald going east into Borca. Prey's Road connects Chateaufaux to the Scythe Highway, and the Kings Highway from Darkon passes through Stangengrad to join the West Timori Road. The Vuchar River was once a major trade route. Until the requiem created necropolis right on top of the river separating river traffic from east and west Darkon. The river traffic and fishing industries have thus, significantly declined, only serving to fuel Falkovnian ill will against Darkon. The river crosses into Falkovnia ruddy and filth-ridden from its journey through Necropolis and Darkon. It is then filled with run-off sewage and offal from Lekar, which slows it to a sluggish crawl. The north western border with Lamordia is home to a thin ribbon of territory known as Weissfalkund, consisting of wooded slopes of the sleeping beast foothills. Here merchants and bargemen trade with their Lamordian counterparts. North of the West Timori road to Lekar lies Dunkelhertzwald, an extension of Darkon's Forest of Shadows. The forest shrouds the region between Lekar, Standengrad and Morfenzi. Beginning just south of the West Timori road near Lekar and continuing south towards Aerie and Silbervas is the area known as the Scythes Crescent. These waving gold fields produce wheat and house orchards, producing the food exports Falkovnia is so well known for. Despite the land clearing this agriculture requires, thin dense strips of forest dot the region providing a wildlife haven. The Scythe road follows the spine of this region towards the Aerie. South of the Timori Road and east of Scythes Crescent, the dark and ancient Seelewald forest is found. The forest passes south past Falkovnia's heart. Most of Seelewald has never been seen by human eyes. Falkovnia peasants tell stories of woodsmen finding enchanted groves and haunted ruins within its darkness. East of Morfenzi and Aerie is the Vigilia Dimortia Forest. The woods here are sparse as they huddle up to the Balinoks, The eastern trees give the Forest its name, known as Sentries of Death. The trees suffer from a sort of blight that leaves them dead, bone white and without leaves or bark. Most Falkovnians believe these trees are not blighted but spontaneously combust with every death perpetuated in Vlad Drakov's name. While the tree's do combust, the cause remains unknown. The Crumbling Hills past this forest are the remains of the Balinoks, ripped away during the Great Upheaval. Riddled with tunnels and caves and the occasional sinkhole, the entire region feels unstable as if it will plunge into The Shadow Rift at any moment. The region however manages to hold most of Falkovnia's mining industry. Despite the state of the Vuchar River, Falkovnia is home to some breathtakingly beautiful lakes. Lake Kriegvogal is a notable trading point from the Musarde, despite being overlooked by the city of Silbervas the waters remain clear and clean. The residents say this is because the lake is bottomless, allowing an endless supply of clean water. Indeed no-one has yet found the bottom, even at the shoreline. Fearless divers found the shores drop straight down presenting only sheer stony faces. Settlements and cities lack any aesthetics, buildings come in two styles. The first used by homes and taverns are squat cramped, blocky buildings of unfinished stone and wood, with thatched rooves the general impression they give is shoddy. More poverty stricken peasants live in wattle and daub houses... or make lean-to's out of anything they can find. Falkovnian military buildings are impersonal monoliths of grey stone. These ugly hulks tower over surrounding buildings, adding to the oppressive air of Falkovnian settlements. Falkovnian cities are filled with garbage and dung and are overcrowded. Unpaved streets churned into sticky mud. They are cesspits of squalor and blight. All settlements are fortified. Law Vlad Drakov, the mercenary-king, rules his nation with an iron fist. He is infamous not only for his constant attempts to invade his neighbours, but also for his cruelty towards his subjects. Drakov seems to simply oppress his people because he can. It is well known that he is a brutal sadist; it is said that he demands an execution by impalement every night to accompany his evening meal. Falkovnia is nothing more than a military state. There is no civilian government or police force, nor even any form of aristocracy; soldiers are the highest social class. Drakov's soldiers oversee every aspect of daily life in Falkovnia. Military tribunals conduct all trials, and justice is swift and harsh. Punishments are always a shocking display of Mutilation, torture and execution, and criminals are often left hanging on the city walls to rot. Anyone of any station in Falkovnia has a military commission of some sort, even a bureaucrat. Falkovnians fear Drakov's elite soldiers, the Talons, more than any of the other soldiers. These shock troops have fanatical loyalty towards Drakov and are said to have a sadistic streak that matches that of their cruel master. Population Most Falkovnians live in conditions of crushing poverty, commoners struggle daily to meet the most basic needs. Most work as serfs on the land where cruel overseers ensure that labour occurs from dawn to dusk, enforcing orders with lashes. Those few free families lucky enough to own land enjoy a gentler pace, but forfeit most of their product to the government, any craftsmen are forced to sell through Military merchants. Military takes a substantial cut of crops and goods, as well as levying sales taxes, civic taxes, tolls, fees, and fines. Expensive bribes are often required for even trivial matters. In the cities most commoners survive by begging or theft, however both options quickly lead to brutal punishments from city patrols. Generations of brutal oppression have extinguished any rebellious spark in most of the population, those few who retain it form rebel groups that are usually extremely short lived. Few survive long enough to become a problem Falkovnia has no nobility, instead high ranking military officials take their place and occupy a court that centres around Vlad Drakov. Falkovnia harbours a wild variety of diseases and the people suffer from them all. Cholera from tainted water is commonplace, and sporadic outbreaks of Bubonic plague seem to occur every decade or so. There are even a few leper colonies hidden in the vast forests. Due to the harsh and bleak nature of life in Falkovnia, Falkovnians marry young. Sometimes as early as 12 or 13, it is a quiet celebration, and a fee of 1GP is required by the state to officially register the marriage where it takes a week for their identification papers to be updated. Officers may demand the right of first night as a sign of fealty to Vlad Drakov. Falkovnians end life naked and buried in mass graves. Education is non-existent in Falkovnia, only knowledge passed down family lines remains in the commoner populace as such nearly all are illiterate. Soldiers receive basic education, True education is reserved only for high ranking officers and their families at Stangengrad Military Academy. Falkovnian mentality on a whole takes two forms, One is the drive to survive day to day. Blending in with the crowd and keeping to themselves. Commoners from this group who find themselves conscripted fill out only the letter of their job. Second is the group that actively seeks to fit in to the brutal Falkovnian regime. These Falkovnians rise well in the ranks and take advantage of their powers. Female soldiers struggle twice as hard in the Military for promotions due to prejudices about their worth, no female soldier has ever served as Falkfuhrer of Talon. Falkovnians are not permitted to emigrate to other realms save for a handful of state-approved exceptions. Appearance Falkovnians are sturdy by necessity, visibly underfed and overworked. Their fair skin is marred by the harshness of their lives. Grey tinged from illness, boils and rashes from disease caused by malnutrition and exhaustion. Field workers will be heavily tanned or sunburnt. Every Falkovnian is branded shortly after birth with the hawk seal of Vlad Drakov to mark them as his property. In addition to the brand, many Falkovnians sport scars and mutilations from punishments doled out by the soldiers brutal military justice. Hair is typically dark blonde to brown, men have it cropped short, while women leave it wild, long, and unadorned. Though some women, especially those in the military, will have the same crew cut as the men. Typically Falkovnian clothing is drab and unremarkable as standing out to passing soldiers is inadvisable. Clothes are invariably raged and of poor quality, men wearing tunics and breeches, women blouses and long skirts. Most commoners cannot afford shoes and instead wrap rags around their feet. Clothing is generally splattered with varied types of filth and lice infested. Those merchants associated with the military fare somewhat better. Earning tax breaks and gaining the ability to purchase quasi-military uniforms for their family. These men and women wear simple military coats bearing the hawk seal along with their better quality clothes. Soldiers of both genders wear brown tunics and various types of armour adorned with the Falkovnian hawk symbol. Attitude to magic Arcane Falkovnian government watches any citizen for signs of magic where it takes them to the Radiant Tower in Lekar to swear loyalty to Vlad Drakov. Fortunately Falkovnia's magic users are rare, and Vlad possesses disdain for them. The citizenry of Falkovnia fear the Ministry of Arcane, and by extension all arcane magic users are objects of trepidation. Divine Falkovnians view magic with a mix of awe and fear, Some accept divine magic, but the majority see it as another tool of the oppressors. They tolerate divine spell casters but do not usually believe in benevolent and worship worthy deity’s. Falkovnians will turn to clerics for divine aid though once it proves helpful. Attitudes to others All Falkovnians are indoctrinated to hate and fear foreigners, Darkonians in particular. Falkovnians generally look down on non-human races, who are considered Chattel by the government. Most Falkovnians offer only scorn and abuse to these slaves. The Shadow rift is a source of fear for all Falkovnians. Many believing the unseelie fey that have appeared in ever increasing numbers since it’s appearance come from the Shadow Rift. Falkovnians want as little as possible to do with it. Names '-Falkovnian Male Names:' Alber, Artur, Felix, Franz, Hans, Helmut, Igor, Ivan, Karl, Leopold, Otto, Vladimir, Viktor, Wulfgang '-Falkovnian Female Names': Anya, Berta, Emma, Greta, Inga, Ingrid, Klara, Marie, Olga, Rebek, Sylvi, Tasha, Vika '-Falkovnian Surnames:' Ahlmann, Angerhausen, Apenzeller, Aschenbach, Auerbach, Bachman, Bauer, Baumgaertel, Bloch, Bohlen, Bohringer, Braun, Brockhaus, Dautzenberg, Denhardt, Deutscher, Diesel, Dietz, Dittrich, Eichendorf, Ernst, Faulhaber, Faustmann, Fehrenbacher, Frankenheimer, Frauenfelder, Friedlander, Gettelfinger, Glauber, Goebel, Goettinger, Groezinger, Haessler, Hahn, Hammerich, Hauser, Herzog, Hess, Hoffmann, Huntziger, Joachimsthaler, Kaempfer, Kaiser, Kierkegaard, Kirchenbacher, Kleinschmidt, Koehler, Lambrecht, Leitenberger, Manstein, Matzenkopf, Moellendorf, Nachbauer, Niederstatter, Oberman, Pfeiffer, Reinhardt, Richter, Schaeffer, Schenk, Schmidt, Schroder, Schultz, Steinbauer, Strauss, Tellenbach, Unger, Van Volkman, Von Ettingshausen, Von Friedenreich, Von Zitzewitz, Wagner, Weiss, Werner, Wolfert, Wollheim, Zahn, Zimmermann, Zoeller, Zurbrugg Religion No religion has widespread following in Falkovnia. The government supports no faith but those from outside may establish small temples. Most Falkovnians believe their gods died centuries ago in the Crimson Storm, that now humankind must struggle without the hope of aid from the merciful Divine. Most dismiss the claims of foreign priests, a few still invoke the silver or crimson hawk. Marking white or red hawks to bring good or ill fortune respectively. The eternal Order operates secretly in Falkovnia, brought back by veterans of The Dead Man's Campaign. Eternal Order Worshipers seek to appease the gods of death and prevent the restless dead from swarming across the Darkonian border. The cult is largely contained in Stangengrad. The church of Ezra is the most open of the groups that seeks acceptance in Falkovnia. Travelers find it a welcome port in the storm but its progress is hindered by ties to Darkon and the league of four nations. Unfortunately the church loses a number of anchorites to Drakov's forces for aiding resistance groups. Hala's witches maintain numerous small hospices throughout Falkovnia, The hospice of bowed heads is notable for housing a number of important relics of the witch goddess. Sadly disaster seems to haunt the hospices, one destroyed by a doppelganger plant, another massacred to the last witch. Appendix See also: * Falkovnia